35 individuals were
arrested on Tuesday 18th July 2017 in Moria Refugee Camp, Lesvos,
in raids following clashes with riot police using teargas and
violence. The individuals arrested have been charged with serious
crimes including arson, damage to property, and rioting, which
carry lengthy prison sentences and could signify exclusion from
international protection.

There is mounting evidence
that individuals were arbitrarily arrested on the basis of their
race, nationality and presence in the camp at the time of police
raids. There is also considerable evidence that police used excessive
force during and after the arrest of these individuals. Amnesty
International Greece has urged authorities to investigate police
violence possibly amounting to torture. See our previous report
for further details."

 Based on the
bilateral Readmission Protocol between Greece and Turkey in 2016:
1183 - in 2017: 14, a total of 1,197 foreign nationals, third
country nationals

 Based on the EU
Readmission Agreement - Turkey, in 2016: 54 -2017: 11, a
total of 65 Turkish nationals

 On the basis of
the EU-Turkey Joint Declaration, in 2016: 801 -2017: 504,
a total of 1,305 foreign nationals of different nationalities
(of whom 202 from Syria)

In addition, 1494 foreign
nationals from third countries who had entered our country by
sea from Turkey were returned to their countries of origin voluntarily
via the International Organization of Military and Migration,
since the implementation of the EU-Turkey Joint Declaration."
[emphasis added]

"The Sea-Eye rescue
crew, a group that is among those accused of colluding
with smugglers by the C-Star crews, was on their way to help.
Michael Buschheuer, the chairman of Sea-Eye, issued a statement
saying that to help a ship in distress is the duty of anyone
at sea, without regard for their origin, race, religion or beliefs.
Apparently, the C-Star ship refused help, but we do not have
confirmation of this....

The ship was stopped several times over
the last several weeks by anti-fascist groups in different countries,
but they continued their journey. They were also stopped in the
Suez Canal for security checks before journeying to northern
Cyrus, where crew members were arrested over people smuggling
allegations after a group of people from Sri Lanka were found
on board. Later on, they claimed that the Sri Lankan crew members
on board were apprentice sailors who were supposed
to disembark in Egypt.

While at sea, the C-star crew - which
is already becoming ridiculous - were shouting at humanitarian
ships through megaphones, ordering them to leave the search and
rescue zone."

MED - "Code of onduct"

Another organization signed the Code
of Conduct that the Italian government came up with. This time
it is SOS MEDITERRANEAN, whose members met in Rome with Mario
Morcone, Head of Civil Liberties and Immigration at the Ministry
of Interior.

Apparently, the Code they signed has
been amended and now it acknowledges that the Code is not legally
binding and existing national and international laws and regulations
prevail; it does not mention the carrying of any form of weapon,
and therefore SOS MEDITERRANEE does not commit itself to receiving
any armed persons aboard its ship."

ITALY

"Once again, news about the prosecution
of those who are saving lives. The Italian authorities are investigating
an Eritrean human rights activist, Don Mossie Zerai, who was
a candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2015. He is being investigated
by the Trapani public prosecutor for facilitating clandestine
immigration.

Zerai founded the Habashia, a blog he
describes as a life jacket for migrants, where he
provides last-minute and lifesaving information to people trying
to cross the Mediterranean to Europe.

Zerai has released a statement saying:
I can confirm with all conscience that I have nothing to
hide and that I have always acted with full legality. Apart from
the Trapani initiative , I have not been called to any other
venue to justify or in any way respond to my work in favor of
refugees and migrants."

GERMANY

"Germanys Chancellor Angela
Merkel announced her intention to cooperate more closely with
Libya to decrease the number of people crossing the sea and entering
the EU.

The process is in its infancy,
but it is supposed to develop like [the refugee deal with] Turkey
once did, she said to journalists after meeting with senior
officials from the IOM and the UNHCR.

This will be achieved, Markel claims,
by strengthening Libyas government and improving conditions
in detention centers across the country."

"A number of refugees
demonstrating against Sweden's deportation policy were reportedly
racially attacked by right wing extremist network Nordisk ungdom
(Nordic Youth). Stockholm Police reported that young asylum seekers
attending at a sit-down protest had flammable items thrown at
them, and three of them were slightly injured. Police stated
that they tightened up security after the violent attack."

"German NGO says
its rescue vessel is sailing to help a group of far-right activists
after their ship got into trouble off the coast of Libya...

Michael Busch Heuer,
the founder of the Regensburg-based aid organisation, which operates
two rescue vessels active in the Mediterranean since early 2016,
said it was the duty of anyone at sea to help those in
distress, irrespective of their origin, colour, religion or beliefs.

"The Sea-Eye charity's founder Michael Buschheuer said the
Italian coastguard had asked his ship to set course for the C-Star,
but that the Nazi boat had refused assistance. "We
had radio contact. They said they don't need or want our help,"
Buschheuer told Reuters news agency."

"Church leaders
have spoken up in defense of NGOs operating search and rescue
missions for migrants in the Mediterranean, calling for the creation
of safe channels for refugees who wish to come to Italy and criticizing
some of the provisions within the 'code of conduct' that the
state asked NGOs to sign in order to continue their work at sea."
Europe records biggest rise in slavery due to vulnerable migrants (ekathimerini.com, link)

"The European Union
recorded the largest increase in slavery of any world region
in 2017, with the arrival of more than 100,000 migrants, many
of them extremely vulnerable to exploitation, analysts said on
Thursday.

The risk of slave labor
in farming, construction and other sectors rose across the region,
with 20 of the EU's 28 member states scoring worse than in 2016
in an annual global slavery index by British analytics company
Verisk Maplecroft."

"Heads of state
and government met on an almost monthly basis to discuss the
issue. However, as soon as the stories began disappearing from
the front pages so did the political will to do something.

Despite the receding
media coverage, the issue has not gone way.

While the numbers arriving
in Greece have declined since the middle of 2015, the numbers
arriving across the Mediterranean to Italy have increased markedly
in the last two to three years.

Hundreds of thousands
of migrants that have been rescued by the Italian navy and are
now waiting in reception centres or being housed by local authorities,
many of which are stretched to their limits. Despite warnings
from the Italian government, most EU member state continue to
ignore the situation. "

"Germany is to
send back asylum seekers to Greece, ending a five-year suspension
of the EUs asylum rules on transfers because of poor reception
conditions.

Greek migration minister
Yiannis Mouzalas, speaking to the German public television channel
ARD, in a program due to air on Tuesday (8 August), has confirmed
that Greek authorities received 392 requests.

Mouzalas said Athens
approved the return of a "small number" of asylum seekers
from Germany and other EU countries. The move would end a five-year
suspension of the so-called Dublin regulations, the EUs
asylum rules.

The transfers to Greece
will only affect asylum seekers who arrived in Germany and other
EU countries from mid-March this year, in line with a recommendation
issued by the European Commission last December."

"Greek authorities
oversaw the voluntary return of 1,645 people to their homelands
in July, according to data published Monday. The repatriations
were made via a voluntary scheme run by the International Organization
for Migration, as well as through returns carried out by the
Greek police.

Just over half of the
migrants (872) were returned to Albania. This was followed by
297 returns to Pakistan and 98 to Algeria. A total of 11,083
migrants have been repatriated via these methods since the start
of the year."

"A growing number
of people have been landing to the Greek shores recently. Over
the weekend, 228 people were officially registered on the Greek
Aegean islands that have seen the arrival of more than 430 people
in the first week of August alone. The number of newly arrived
people has been growing on Samos, especially in the previous
weeks, and in the past month more than 210 registrations were
marked there. Only today, 60 people arrived on a boat to Samos,
including 27 children on board that vessel. A number of 128 people
were registered by the local organizations arriving on Chios
island today: 74 people in total on the first vessel (33 men,15
women and 26 children) and 54 people on the second vessel (30
men, 13 women and 11 children). The people came from Etiopia,
Libanon, Iran, Iraq and Syria."

TURKEY

"Media report that
the Turkish Land Forces intercepted 975 people who tried to cross
into Turkey on Monday. The Turkish Armed Forces said in
a statement that 926 people from Syria, 28 from Bulgaria, 18
from Greece and three people from Iraq, as well as 50 people
trying to enter Syria from Turkish land, were captured.

GREECE

"Samos
Volunteers
are looking for help - they need more volunteers, especially
those willing to join them in September and october. If you are
thinking about volunteering in Greece, consider aiding Samos
volunteers by joing the team for at least a month or longer,
if you can. Contact the group for more info."

"According to journalistic
sources, the rapid police performance of both countries prevented
nearly thousand sub-Saharan migrants from penetrating the neighboring
fence six meters high, which separates the metropolis of the
Moroccan territory.

The agents of Rabat
managed to contain most of the African citizens, while approximately
300 that managed to come up to the wire fence, were repelled
by members of the Civil Guard of the European country."

Note: the Spanish government
has closed one of the border crossings in Ceuta (that which is
used for crossings by traders and businesses) so that more officers
can be deployed in surveillance of the border.

"At this very moment,
some children in Spain are being held in adult immigration detention
centres, pending return to their home countries.

Other migrant children
are living on the streets in Madrid and other Spanish cities,
suffering from serious illnesses, or are prevented from applying
for asylum. This is happening because they are not Spanish nationals
and the authorities have not recognised them as children, but
consider them to be adults.

During the International
Commission of Jurists' (ICJ's) capacity and coalition building
activities with lawyers and civil society organisations to better
defend migrant children's rights in various European countries,
our Spanish partner, Fundacion Raices, raised attention to the
dire situation of migrant children in Spain."

"An amendment submitted
to Parliament that would have seen refugees and migrants who
dont have valid passports banned from owning cell phones
in Greece was withdrawn on Saturday after an outcry and the intervention
of Migration Policy Ministry officials.

The amendment stipulated
that refugees and migrants would have to possess a valid passport
in order to be granted the right to have a cell phone. This would
have made it next to impossible for them to get a phone because
hardly any of them have a valid passport."

"Refugees in Greece
are waiting for indefinite periods for their family reunification
to Germany. PRO ASYL and Refugee Support Aegean (RSA) are calling
for an end to be put to the suffering of more than two thousand
refugees who are stuck in Greece while waiting to be reunited
with their family members in Germany."

"United
Rescue Aid team remind us one more that that sea
rescue is not a crime, but the mandatory duty for all those at
the sea."

Greece

"Today, 106 people arrived in Greece,
according to volunteer teams on islands: 33 arrived in North
Maytlini; 26 to South Maytlini; and 47 to Samos. At this point,
probably nobody knows how they will be treated and what rights
they will be granted.....

What will happen with those who are
still arriving is not clear to anybody. Or with people who are
living in squats and do not receive any kind of help from the
UN or EU, but only from small self-organized groups."

Hungary

"Refugee.Info
team posted data about the chances for people seeking
asylum in Hungary stressing that it is amongst the lowest in
Europe....

According to the official data, since
the start of this year, only 321 people have been granted protection
in Hungary, while 2,417 people have been rejected. Only 10 people
are allowed to enter every day. They are forced to live in prison
like facilities, where they are treated in most degrading way.
And that is the norm in the EU."

France

"According to the media, one person
- migrant whose nationality is not yet established - died when
hit by a car on the A16 motorway near Calais. This is the second
death of a migrant in Calais and its surroundings in 2017.

In 2015 and 2016, 33 people died in
this area, according to an Official statement.

Currently, there are around 600 people
in Calais. So far, they are living with minimum, provided manly
by volunteers. By the court decision, the local authorities are
obliged to install showers and toilets, the first elements of
the aid scheme before the end of next week."

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